Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.80.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Edgewell Personal Care from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edgewell Personal Care

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Edgewell Personal Care by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,833,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,401,000 after buying an additional 29,217 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,575,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,976,000 after purchasing an additional 103,751 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,195,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,774,000 after purchasing an additional 120,772 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,071,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,058,000 after purchasing an additional 152,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 695,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,481,000 after purchasing an additional 8,312 shares during the last quarter. 91.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edgewell Personal Care Price Performance

Edgewell Personal Care stock traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 166,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 383,927. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.84. Edgewell Personal Care has a fifty-two week low of $33.71 and a fifty-two week high of $41.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.49.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.67 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 9.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Edgewell Personal Care will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Edgewell Personal Care Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.10%.

Edgewell Personal Care Company Profile

Edgewell Personal Care Company is a manufacturer and marketer of personal care products in the wet shave, sun and skin care, feminine care and infant care categories. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had a portfolio of over 25 brands. It manages its business in four segments: Wet Shave, Sun and Skin Care, Feminine Care and All Other.